Chasing the Rainbow
by LemonSmoothie
Summary: Centers around Luxord and Demyx. The Organization hears of a great evil that will ultimately destroy all the worlds, and so must overcome their biggest challenge yet: working together. Pre-Kingdom Hearts.


"Chasing the Rainbow"

by Mona

Disclaimer: All Kingdom Hearts characters are copyright Disney and Square. Original characters are mine.

"It never rains in Southern California, my ass," Edym Fairmont mumbled as he followed Ansley up the spiral staircase.

Ansley turned and gave him an offended look. "Language!"

"Sorry, Ansley," Edym said as they reached the top of the stairs. "What did you want me to see?"

Ansley indicated the glass walls and ceiling around them. The sky was visible, half of it dark and overcast, the other half blue and bright. A rainbow was in the sky on the clear half. "Our father built this room especially so he could see the stars."

"But it's still day. There aren't any stars out. Like you could even see them in the city." Edym whined.

Ansley snapped his fingers. "Focus, Edym. The rainbow. What significance does it have in Judeo-Christian lore?"

"Huh? Wasn't it a bridge to..." Edym scratched his head. "Somewhere?"

Ansley shook his head. "You're thinking of the rainbow bridge of Bifrost in Norse mythology. In the Tanakh, the rainbow was a sign from God to Noah. That the world would never be destroyed by a flood again."

"I thought rainbows were signs that leprechauns used to remember where they hid their pots of gold."

"Yes, rainbows do serve that function in Irish folklore, but the rainbow is more of a metaphor for something beautiful that's just beyond our reach. Some people do chase that pot of gold, or that rainbow..." Ansley said dreamily.

"Only idiots chase rainbows," a voice interjected. Mr. Fairmont, Ansley and Edym's father, was standing at the head of the stairs. He was a tall and robust man, wearing riding clothes and carrying a large riding crop in one hand and a china plate of freshly-baked cookies in the other. "Now, Edym, have you been studying your history?"

"Yes, I have, Dad!" Edym lied.

"Well, then. Prove it. What did James K. Polk accomplish as President?" He held up the plate of cookies. "If you get one answer right, you get a cookie."

"But, Father--" Ansley interrupted. "Cookies aren't exactly --"

Mr. Fairmont held up his hand. "If you question me, you do not get a cookie. Now, Edym. Give me those accomplishments."

"Um..." Edym thought a moment. "Seized the whole Southwest from Mexico, made sure the tariffs fell, and made the English sell the Oregon Territory. He built an independent treasury, too."

Mr. Fairmont blinked. "That's...correct." He handed Edym a cookie. "Very good. Now what he was called?"

"Young Hickory, or Napoleon of the Stump."

"Correct again." Mr. Fairmont handed Edym another cookie. "That said, have you reviewed your Montesquieu?"

"Monte _who_?" Edym asked through a mouthful of cookie.

XXX

"It's time to go to bed, Edmund," A man told his son.

"But, Daddy! I'm not sleepy!" Edmund protested.

"If you go to bed now, I'll show you something special," The man, who would later be known as Luxord, said.

"Okay..." Edmund abandoned his toy blocks and walked toward his bed.

The man took out a dispersive prism and held it to a nearby lamp.

Edmund reached out his hand to touch the resultant rainbow, but his father pushed his hand back.

"Rainbows," the man said. "Are only meant to be looked at and chased after, not touched."

XXX

"Rain, rain," Zexion read in a soft voice. "And sun! A rainbow in the sky! A young man will be wiser by and by. An old man's wit may wander ere he die..." Something landed in his lap. He picked it up. A large, round, iridescent jewel. "An opal?"

Lexaeus, standing beside Zexion's armchair at attention, nodded. "I found it while exploring a new world."

Zexion turned the opal over in his hands. "This is a magnificent jewel."

"The inhabitants of that world believe opals are stones with rainbows trapped within them. Opals are very popular there, as they consider the rainbow to be a sign of good fortune. The opals are even more popular than diamonds."

"Unlike where we're from," Zexion said. "They're unlucky. Except for those born in October. Like me. But why? Why would such a beautiful thing be called a bad omen?"

Lexaeus thought a moment. "I think it came from the time of Ansem IV. He named his coaches after gemstones. The driver of the _Opal _was always drunk, and the coach came to be considered unlucky."

XXX

Xigbar and Xemnas were on the roof of the Castle That Never Was.

Xemnas placed a golf tee in a conveniently located crack in the marble. He took the club his servant, Aveluxe, handed him. After carefully placing a ball on the tee and positioning himself just right, he swung.

The ball sliced through the air and disappeared. Moments later, the sound of glass breaking filled the air, followed by more clinks and crashes, then a frantic cat yowl.

"DAMN YOU, XEMNAS!" yelled a voice from afar.

Xemnas threw his head back and laughed evilly. Aveluxe rolled her eyes at his immaturity.

Xigbar lined up his shot and swung. "Damn. Sliced it." He shook his head. "I gotta work on my game."

"No, don't think of it as work," Xemnas quickly said.

XXX

Marluxia entered the office he shared with Larxene. "Larxene, you must see this!"

Larxene looked up from her computer. "What is it?"

"I dreamed of oaks."

"What?" Larxene gave him a quizzical look.

"Dreaming of oak trees is a good omen. It means good fortune and a long life ahead. And here's the proof." Marluxia held up a pot of white poinsettias. "I finally managed to grow viable white poinsettias in my garden! It's a miracle growing anything on this spit of land."

"I hate this color. White poinsettias make me vomit." Larxene whipped out one of her kunai and sliced open her finger, letting red blood drip on the white bracts.

"What are you doing?!" Marluxia demanded.

"Marluxia, you should know by now. I don't believe in miracles."

Marluxia fumed silently as the blood stained the flowers.

Vexen entered the shared office. "Marluxia!"

"Yes?" Marluxia asked.

Vexen held up a very wilted and dead-looking potted plant. "I was hoping your green thumb would coax my plant back to life. It's part of my experiment on..."

Marluxia paled at the sight. "My goodness, Vexen! What do you do to this?!"

"Nothing!" Vexen insisted. "All I did was love it!" He reached out to touch a leaf, but it bent away from his fingers.

XXX

Saix was alone in his office, writing in his diary. "It helps to write it down, even when you then cross it out," he mumbled to no one in particular.

He scribbled down one sentence in his diary before crossing it out:

_If a heart breaks, does it break forever?_

The phone rang. Saix picked it up. "Number VII. Oh? Lady Urania. Lord Xemnas is in a meeting." There was the sound of more glass breaking and an unprintable curse word aimed at Xemnas. "Can you tell me what you saw? You'll only speak with Xemnas? Very well. How about next Thursday? 1:00 PM? Good."

XXX

Xaldin and Axel were sparring in one of the courtyards of the Castle That Never Was.

Axel hurled a flaming chakram at Xaldin, who knocked it away.

Xaldin prepared to counter, but hesitated. "Wait, Axel."

"What?" Axel asked.

Xaldin closed his eyes. "The wind is telling me something."

Axel shook his head. "You're sounding like Marluxia. Always seeing omens and stuff in everything. Superstition only gets you so far."

"Really," Xaldin said. "You know that feeling you get? You can only say what it is in French?"

"Deja vu?" Axel wasn't fluent in French. In fact, the only French he knew was that phrase and a few cheesy pick-up lines.

"Yes. It feels like that." Xaldin paced nervously around the courtyard.

"What do you feel?" Axel asked.

"Like all hell is going to break loose."

Axel looked up at the sky. It was calm. That was rare. There were always storms in the World That Never Was. "Could this be the calm before the storm?"

A lightning flash streaked across the sky. A cloud burst above, showering Axel and Xaldin in a torrent of rain.

"It seems the storm is already here," Xaldin observed.

"Forget the storm!" Axel snapped. His hair was wet and coming out of its spikes. "My hairgel isn't waterproof..." He moaned. "My beautiful hair!"

XXX

Demyx lay under a cool, shady tree in a pastoral and verdant world.

"Demyx!"

Demyx's head snapped to attention. He glanced around the tree trunk he was sitting against. "Luxord? I'm surprised."

"Why?" Luxord asked.

"I thought for sure X-Face would send Xaldin or Axel this time," Demyx stood up.

"X-Face?" Luxord smirked. "So I assume Saix is the Organization member you like the least?"

"He's so...so bossy!"

"So, why didn't you return to the castle?" Luxord asked.

"I just needed some air." Demyx nodded toward the sky. A rainbow was visible in the distance. "I just...sat here. Thinking about my heart, and all of the places it came apart."

"Oh, chasing the ol' rainbow. I can understand that," Luxord said.

"What I want to know is why I'm always chasing the rainbow," Demyx said. "If it's impossible to catch."

"Personally, I think we all chase rainbows," Luxord replied.


End file.
